


Drip Dry

by SkylandMountain1013



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, xfwritingchallenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 06:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5119238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylandMountain1013/pseuds/SkylandMountain1013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On good days, they can reminisce- faint smiles remembering the people they used to be. On bad days, he looks at her like he’s caused all the pain in her world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drip Dry

**Author's Note:**

> Set Post-The Truth. This is definitely out of my comfort zone for me. I like my babies happy, so fluff is what I naturally gravitate towards. But hey, these writing challenges are all about stepping outside the box.. so.. here goes. Thanks to @katieannwrites for the quick beta!

Scully keeps track of the towns they find momentary respite in by counting the hair colors she’s been through. It’s a mental tally of stained rubber gloves and threadbare motel towels. 

_Wikieup, AZ. Sunkissed Brown._

_White Hills, NV. Hazelnut._

_Parowan, UT. Honey Creme._

Her hair is becoming brittle and flat from the constant barrage of chemical treatments. No matter how many showers she takes, the lingering smell of ammonia prevails. 

With each change she feels like she loses a piece of herself. 

_Dana Scully. FBI Agent. Partner. Mother._

If Mulder notices, he makes no mention of it. 

On good days, they can reminisce- faint smiles remembering the people they used to be. On bad days, he looks at her like he’s caused all the pain in her world. 

Her answer is always the same. ”Mulder, stop it. My choices are ones I’ve made on my own.”

_Dana Scully. FBI Agent. Partner._

* * *

Their motel room in Cove Fort, Utah ( _Amber Shimmer_ ) is barely big enough for the two of them. Mulder stands over the sink in the bathroom, hand washing their laundry from the past week. Laundromats take too much time, he had said. If they needed to make a quick escape, they couldn’t risk having their only possessions locked in a dryer. 

“I think we might be able to stay here for a few days,” he calls out, haphazardly throwing a pair of jeans over the shower rod. 

She is on the bed, staring at a piece of hair she has wrapped around her fingers. 

“I miss my hair,” She says flatly. “I know, logically, with all we’ve lost, this is something insignificant..” Her voice trails off as it cracks. 

He’s next to her in a flash, arms wrapped around her frame as the sobs start to come. Her hands are balled up against his chest and his heart heaves along with her. 

_Dana Scully. Partner._

“I don’t have answers, Mulder,” she chokes out. “I don’t know how we fix this, Is there an end game?”

He can’t give her a response. He’s promised to never lie to her. 

All he can do is gently rock her and repeat, “You are enough. You are enough.”

* * *

“What’s the color tonight, Scully?”

She pads towards the center of the room, towels around her waist and head. “Blueberry Creme.” ( _Nucla, CO_ , she thinks). She shakes her hair out. 

He smiles at her. “I like it. It’s… sultry.”

“Sultry, you say?” She wiggles the towel off of her as she half dances towards the bed. On their spectrum, it’s been a good day. 

He shakes his head at her, chuckling. “You really shouldn’t quit your day job.”

“Funny.” Her balled up towel hits him in the face as she pulls a discarded shirt of his over her head. It’s stiff from weeks of drip drying. 

They lie in comfortable silence until sleep mostly overcomes them. She speaks in a small voice, “You know what I miss the most?”

His nose is buried in her neck. “Mm?”

“Fabric softener.”

He shakes with silent laughter and holds her tighter. 

_Partner._


End file.
